1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to methods of polarizing radiation, where the radiation may be infrared radiation. In particular, the invention relates to using a multi-layer solid state thin film electrochromic device for selectively polarizing infrared radiation.
2. Background Information
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,265,890, the disclosure of which is entirely incorporated herein by reference, the inventor teaches multi-layer solid state thin film structures and fabrication techniques for forming electrical devices, and in particular, for forming electrochromic devices for modulating visible, and, more significantly, infrared radiation.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,265,890 the inventor taught a thin film electrochromic device operable as a tunable optical filter for selectively absorbing infrared radiation in a spectral region characterized by wavelengths between about three and six microns. In the referenced patent the inventor did not teach that the filter was a polarizer particularly suited for use in the mid-IR region, with particular emphasis on an atmospheric window generally encompassing wavelengths between eight and fourteen microns.